Pekka saw Dr. Byrd today – he had an MRI and saw the doctor this afternoon,” Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/General Manager David Poile said. “The MRI has improved. It is always hard to know where we are in this situation because we’ve never dealt with it before. In a nutshell, the doctor is happy with the progress and he is recommending two more weeks of rehab. December 20th is our target date to get Pekka into more strenuous activity leading back into playing. From my position, I’m obviously encouraged, as is the doctor, because we are making progress. To be honest, there is never going to be a timetable that is going to be perfect for us until we see him back on the ice. But, this is all good news, and December 20th will be the date as we move forward.

“The problem with this situation is there really is no timeframe that we can be exact on. I’m hoping, from listening to the doctor today, that when we get to December 20th, we’ll be on the home stretch.”